Mr. Chip

As I already told you, Mr. Chip turned 13 years old this summer. It amazes us that he's made it this far, considering he's favorite hobby is chasing cars. It's been our task to stop him and so far we have succeeded. Mr. Chip also dreams of catching a squirrel, or five. They are he is his worst enemy because he has a very good technic, when hunting them. He sneaks up on the poor squirrel that is happily munching away, and jumps. As terriers can be very cat like, Mr. Chip gets very close before the cone eater notices him. That's when I imitate a train whistle and ruins the hunt. The thought of a Fox terrier and a squirrel fighting makes my mind boggle. One would not let go and the other one has very sharp, strong teeth...

And then there is the library bus. A huge, tires wide as ever, bus that Mr. Chip would like to drag home. Life is not dull with a terrier in the house.

But he is slowing down a bit. Long mornings in bed mean he does not venture out  for his morning walk before eight o'clock, anymore. We got the explanation when we took him to the vet. Poor Mr. Chip has at some point during the summer developed Cushing Syndrome. That means that he's little body is producing too much of a stress hormone that makes his day fly by, so he sleeps like a log. A dog must rest at some point, I guess...

                             Credit: Dasha Dimitrova

Mr. Chip is such a kind dog, that we did not notice the change in him. You would think having stress would make him a bit edgy at times, but no. We only did the blood test because the vet had said that he might need one later in the autumn if he changes his behavior drastically. Sleeping a bit longer is clearly dramatic behavior in our house, mutters Mr. Chip... It was good that we went, though. Cushing Syndrome needs to be treated for the rest of his life and we are now working to find the right dose of medicine for our friend. That means a lot of blood tests and Mr. Chip is not a happy dog. Cushing Syndrome can lead to hair loss, pot bellyness and it eats away in the body if not treated, so we soldier on.

The interesting thing was that once our little dog started eating his pills, all the stress and oddness started showing. Evenings were spent panting madly, running from room to room counting people and drinking water like it's going out of fashion. His appetite, that already was quite impressive, increased. The vet was also slightly surprised that we went the wrong way, so to speak. But now we seem to be getting there, finding a balance again. Here's hoping, anyway. It would be nice to be able to eat a sandwich without Mr. Chip almost passing out next to us, with indignation. For a while he thought all the food in the house was his and we were stealing it.

The saddest part in this is that there is no early "guys only" walks in the mornings, anymore. My dear husband just gets up and goes to work. Maybe later on, when snow arrives and lights up the mornings a little, our friend will get out of bed a bit earlier, again. But for now Mr. Chip snuggles into his three woolly blankets and snores away until the sun comes out. Then it's for me to get out for a nice, crisp walk with him and I can't say I'm complaining. There's always a silver lining for someone, somewhere and this time I got lucky. And watching Mr. Chip get better is a treat for us all. Fingers crossed....

Text by Nina

Next blog post on the 19th October.


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